The present invention relates to a document feeding apparatus used in an office machine, and more specifically relates to a document feeding apparatus having simple mechanism and separating a feed-in document from a next feed-in document within a fixed distance.
Generally, a document feeding apparatus is used in an office machine, such as a fax machine, a scanner, a printer, a copy machine, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP), to convey the document into the office machine. No matter the document feeding apparatus is applied to which kind of office machine, the document feeding apparatus should convey the documents one by one and prevent the documents from overlapping with each other. Moreover, when the document feeding apparatus conveys a document, the document should proceed straightforward so as to get a better quality.
Due to the automatic document feeder (ADF) applying to the multi-function peripheral, the ADF is better to avoid the complex design and high cost in manufacturing. Conventionally, to avoid any documents overlapping, the conventional ADF typically uses a separation roller (not shown) to separate documents. However, the conventional ADF still has a disadvantage in easily causing the double feed and/or jam due to the insufficient separation of documents.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeding apparatus that is used in an office machine, such as a fax machine, a scanner, a printer, a copy machine, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP).
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeding apparatus that conveys documents one by one without concerns of overlapping feeding of documents.
The present invention includes an intermittent gear set, a first roller, a second roller, and a driving device. The intermittent gear set includes a gear, a shaft, a one-way spring clutch, an arcuate groove, and a pin. The driving device provides the gear and the second roller a power to rotate. The intermittent gear set selectively drives the first roller to pick up the document. The pin is selectively movable in the arcuate groove so that the first roller selectively picks up the document resulting in separation of a document from next feed-in document to prevent a document from papers jamming.
Other features, benefits and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.